

SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 261 



calls upon his intended mate to forget the shyness that 

 will no longer serve their purpose; nor does the invi- 

 tation lack defiance to a rival who may presume to dis- 

 pute his rights. At the rallying cry the birds assemble, 

 in numbers of both sexes, at some favorable spot, and a 

 singular scene ensues as the courtship progresses. 

 There is a regular 'walk-around/ as ludicrous, to the 

 disinterested observer, as some of the performances on 

 the comic stage. The birds run about in a circle, some 

 to the right, others to the left, crossing each other's 

 path, passing and repassing in stilted attitudes, stop- 

 ping to bow and squat in extravagant postures, and 

 resuming their course, till one would think their heads 

 as well as their hearts were lost. But this is simply their 

 way, and they amuse themselves in such fashion till 

 the affair is settled. The cocks have bristled and 

 swelled, strutted and fought, till some have proven their 

 claims to first choice, and others have concluded to 

 take what they can get. Their subsequent history, I 

 am sorry to state, is neither particularly creditable to 

 themselves nor of absorbing interest to us. Leaving 

 them to go about their business in their usual humdrum 

 way, let us look to what now occupies their mates. 



"A nest will soon be required for her eggs, and the 

 hen has to select suitable premises, though, being an 

 architect of only the humblest order, she has little build- 

 ing work to do; and, moreover, not being fastidious, 

 her choice is made without difficulty. I have found 

 the nests in such various locations that I can hardly 

 determine what her preference is, if, indeed, she have 



